The United Arab Emirates government is pushing forward with a plan to provide OpenAI’s paid AI service, ChatGPT Plus, free of charge to all citizens. If this plan comes to fruition, the UAE will become the first country in the world to fully open AI to all citizens.
This collaboration is the first example of OpenAI’s national AI partnership program, and is being carried out in conjunction with Stargate UAE, a massive data center being built in Abu Dhabi. The project was made possible through coordination with the U.S. government, and is part of a strategy to build a globally distributed AI computing infrastructure.
Stargate UAE is a 1-gigawatt AI computing cluster, with 200 megawatts of it scheduled to come online next year. The facility is being built by G42, a state-owned AI company with investments from global IT giants such as Oracle, Nvidia, Cisco, SoftBank, and Microsoft, and will allow OpenAI to directly bring its cutting-edge technology to the Middle East.
ChatGPT Plus provided by OpenAI is a paid service with a monthly subscription. Unlike the general free version, it provides premium features such as the latest-based conversation performance, image creation, large file upload, advanced voice functions, and priority processing during peak user hours. If this service is provided free of charge throughout the United Arab Emirates, more than 10 million people will be able to use high-performance artificial intelligence without restrictions.
OpenAI has not made an official statement, but on its blog it stated that “the UAE will be the first country in the world to introduce ChatGPT nationwide,” and that “we plan to expand the introduction of AI to key industries such as government, energy, education, healthcare, and transportation, and ensure accessibility for all citizens.”
The UAE has placed AI at the center of its national strategy in recent years, and in 2019 it established the world’s first dedicated AI university. In addition, G42 is expected to attract a major strategic investment from Microsoft in 2024, making it a global technology hub.
The Stargate UAE project goes beyond simply building a data center, and is leading to a joint investment in AI infrastructure with the United States. The UAE has also pledged to invest heavily in Stargate facilities in the United States, which was reportedly part of an agreement reached during President Donald Trump’s recent Middle East tour.
The project also foreshadows potential expansion into the Asia Pacific region. OpenAI is exploring collaborations with countries such as Korea, Japan, India, and Australia, and will soon visit these countries to discuss specific infrastructure development.
The free rollout of ChatGPT Plus in the United Arab Emirates is the first experiment in integrating AI technologies deeply into citizens’ lives and industries at a national level, and is expected to be a significant milestone in global discussions on technology governance and data sovereignty.
